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This paper explores opportunities for effective policy intervention for residential energy savings in southern China, by analyzing achievable potential of residential energy savings in the city of Xiamen as a case study. In contrast to static technical and economic potential analyses, the achievable potential analysis is based on dynamic energy consumption projections, which consider two real-world factors: (1) gradual ramping-up adoption process of advanced technical measures; and (2) consumers’ adoption of these measures. A bottom-up type Residential Energy Consumption (REC) projection model specifically tailored for southern China was developed in this paper, based on the general logic and calculation principles utilized in the U.S. EIA’s “National Energy Modeling System (NEMS),” and the adoption theory of advanced technical measures proposed by Kastovich. This REC projection model was then used as a policy analysis tool to quantitatively evaluate the impact of various policies on residential energy savings in the case study city of Xiamen. The analysis of the Xiamen case shows that although there is a significant technical potential for residential energy savings in the city (about 20.9–24.9%), the maximum achievable potential (MAP) in 2020 is only about 8.3–8.4% of that year’s business-as-usual baseline consumption. Moreover, with existing policies only about one-fourth to half of the calculated MAP is likely to be achieved by 2020. These findings indicate that in order to realize a larger share of achievable potential for residential energy savings in China, additional and more effective polices are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Whilst a plethora of literature has viewed technological progress as one of the critical influencing factors in relation to energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, little effort has been made to identify the sectoral differences in the relationship between technological progress and CO 2 emissions. Thereby, this paper remedies the inadequacies in the extant literature by empirically investigating the impact of technological progress on CO 2 emissions, specifically taking into account its heterogeneous effect in various economic sectors. This paper first decomposes the effect of technological progress as taking place in heavy industry, in light industry, in construction industry, and in service industry. A panel quantile regression approach and a balanced city panel data model are then applied, covering the period 2001–2013 in China. The empirical results show that technological progress in heavy industry and light industry surprisingly facilitates a higher level of CO 2 emissions, despite its prominent contribution to energy efficiency improvement. Meanwhile, as distinct from the effect it shows in the heavy and light industries, technological progress in construction and service industries exerts a negative effect on CO 2 emissions. Additionally, this paper further discovers that the strength of the multiple impacts of technological progress also varies with the level of emitters. By studying the heterogeneous effect brought about by technological progress in different economic sectors and emitters, this paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between CO 2 emissions and technological progress. Highlights • The study considers the sectoral and scale heterogeneity of technological progress in relation to CO 2 emissions. • We apply a panel quantile regression approach to balanced city-level panel data. • Technological progress within different economic sectors exerts different effects on CO 2 emissions. • The role of technological progress in moderating energy intensity varies across emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In recent years, China's wind power industry has developed rapidly, and become the global wind power leader. At the same time, China's wind power industry is also facing many problems and challenges. In this paper, a comprehensive assessment is presented to reveal the development history of China's wind power industry, power demand and cost, regional distribution of wind power, wind turbine manufacturers, and government incentives to wind power industry. Subsequently, future development and challenges are proposed, focusing on the challenge of wind power integration and consumption, the challenge of management and market competition mechanism, and the challenge of large-scale and rapid development. Finally, the corresponding measures are put forward. The fundamental goal of this paper is to understand the history, current situation and future challenges of China's wind power industry. Highlights • A comprehensive assessment on the development of China's wind power industry is presented. • The development history of China's wind power and energy demand are introduced. • Multi factors related to China's wind power industry are investigated. • Future challenges and corresponding measures of China's wind power industry are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the salient factors driving the changes in energy consumption in China's nonferrous metal industry during the 2000–2014 period. We employ the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method to decompose the change in energy consumption into the energy structure effect (Δ E ES ), the energy intensity effect (Δ E EI ), the industrial structure effect (Δ E S ), the labour productivity effect (Δ E G ) and the industrial scale effect (Δ E L ). The main results revealed the following: (1) from 2000 to 2014, China's nonferrous metal industry's energy consumption increased by approximately 69.08 million tons of coal equivalent (tce); (2) Δ E G increased energy consumption in all years and was the largest contributor to the increase in energy consumption (followed by Δ E L ), whereas Δ E EI was the dominant factor in reducing energy consumption over the same period, accounting for 104.07% of the change in the absolute value of total energy consumption; and (3) Δ E ES and Δ E S contributed 0.24% and 1.45% to the change, respectively. At present, the decline in Δ E EI cannot completely offset the increases resulting from the other four effects. This paper then provides several policy recommendations based on these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive review of the thermal power industry and the accurate forecasting of carbon emissions can provide valuable information to improve energy efficiency and act as a tool for policy makers to realize sustainable and low-carbon emissions from the thermal power industry. In this paper, we study the low-carbon development of China's thermal power industry based on an international comparison from three perspectives: review, analysis and forecast. Initially, we review both the international and national energy consumption of China; although gaps in energy efficiency still exist between China and countries with advanced thermal power technology, China's thermal power industry is gradually following a low-carbon development route. Then, we analyze low-carbon technologies for thermal power units, including ultra-super-critical technology, integrated gasification combined cycle technology, and carbon capture and storage technology and present a design for environmental protection technology for thermal power units. Carbon emissions should be effectively and successfully handled to improve the prospects of China's thermal power industry. Therefore, this paper forecasts carbon emissions by using a hybrid grey model that is optimized by the firefly algorithm and adjusted by weakening buffer operator based on the calculated carbon emissions. If China's carbon emissions from the thermal power industry increase according to the present rate, China will have difficulty in realizing its carbon reduction target by 2020. Finally, related future policies for the 13th Five-Year Plan of China are proposed based on low-carbon policies around the world with regard to financial, technological and industrial aspects to help the thermal power industry achieve healthy and low-carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important energy base of China, Xinjiang is the key part of the “Silk Road” economic belt development strategy and is in an superior position. This paper analyzes the problems exist in the sustainable energy industry based on the distribution status of sustainable resources of Xinjiang. The evaluation index system of the application level of Renewable Energy Systems (RESs) is discussed using the wind farm as an example. Besides it investigates the advantages and disadvantages of the development process of each node in the “Silk Road” economic belt areas according to the current situation of the resources, economic and social development. Suggestions for the development of each area are proposed in the end. This paper will contribute to the sustainable development of renewable energy industry and economy in Xinjiang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy demand in China has risen rapidly and reached an unprecedented level due to the high-speed economic growth and modern development. As a result, the Chinese government faces a growing pressure to address the energy shortage and environmental deterioration, mainly resulting from an over-dependence on fossil energy. China has become both the largest energy consumer and CO 2 emitting country in the world in 2015. Utilization of potential for renewable energy is necessary for changing inappropriate energy consumption structure, protecting environment and achieving sustainable economic and social development. In view of such mentioned situation, this paper firstly introduces the energy structure as well as the development status of renewable energy in China, which includes hydropower, wind power, solar power, biomass power and other renewable energy. Besides, based on the current situation in China, the paper makes a preliminary prediction of the development of renewable energy in the country for the future decades, and proposes targeted countermeasures and suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When talking about energy conservation, "Rebound Effect" (RE) is always concerned, which defined as the increasing energy consumption relative to the counterfactual predicted by technological progress because of efficiency induced decrease in the real price of energy services. In this paper, we try to find a way to figure out the RE through calculating the substitution relations accord with the definition. Based on the trans-log cost function and considering the asymmetric impact on energy-cost share equation, the paper applies Allen-Uzawa substitution elasticity to establish the price-oriented analysis diagram of fossil-energy consumption RE. Using time series data, applying the joint method of the dynamic OLS (DOLS) and the seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR), the RE in China's electricity generation sector is estimated. The results showed that the RE is 11.6% in China's electricity generation sector if allowing for asymmetric price effects, which indicates that China's power generation sector generally displays a feature of energy saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With increasing attention on energy shortage and global warming, bioenergy is a promising alternative energy to mitigate CO 2 emissions. Despite the environmental friendly potential, a certain quantity of bioenergy-related CO 2 is still emitted in China. This paper investigates the temporal dynamics of bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions in 2000–2010 in China, and explores the underlying influence factors based on logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI). Then the core results are verified with a GIS-based approach from a spacial perspective. The results show that four impact factors: emission intensity, energy structure, energy efficiency and economic development have different impacts on bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions, of which economic development is the major factor contributing to its increase, while energy efficiency is the major determinant for the decline. Per capita bioenergy-related CO 2 emissions in different areas are verified in accordance with either economic development factor or energy efficiency factor to some extent. To achieve the dual purpose of sustainable development and CO 2 emissions reduction, this paper provides a practical policy framework for rural bioenergy and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The iron and steel sector is energy-intensive, and it consumed 18% of the world's total industry final energy consumption in 2013. At present, according to the statistical data of International Energy Agency (IEA) published in 2012, the iron and steel industry has the technical potential to reduce its current total energy consumption by approximately 20% by applying the best available technology (BAT), and more than half of this technical potential may be obtained in China, where more energy-efficiency technologies/measures should be implemented in the steel plants. So a review of energy-efficiency technologies/measures in steel industry could be helpful for steel plants to improve their energy efficiency. Therefore, this paper presents a list of energy-efficiency technologies and practices applicable to the steel industry, which includes case studies around the world and information of energy savings and cost when available. Also, a brief overview of the steel industry around the world, details and energy use conditions of different steel manufacturing processes, types of energy use and specific energy consumption of steel industry and details of secondary energy are also included in this paper to give readers a clear understanding of the energy use situation of the steel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's wind power installed capacity is the largest in the world, but the utilization of wind power equipment is not very good, far behind USA. In this paper, the development of China's wind power is reviewed, and the present wind power curtailment restricts the sound development of China's wind power industry. The characteristics of China's wind farm are summered. With the insatiability and intermittence, wind power is not welcome to China's electric grid, and large-scale wind power construction does not match with the existing power grid, therefore, wind power curtailment is serious and the level of wind power utilization is very low. To solve the wind power curtailment rationing problem, in this paper, combined with the characteristics of China's wind farm operation, the wind power utilization level evaluation index system has been built, reflecting the wind resource characteristics, wind power equipment type, wind power output, wind power curtailment, grid technology, operation management and so on. Taking Hami wind farm in Xinjiang province as an example, wind power utilization level is evaluated comprehensively, combined the improved analytic hierarchy process (IAHP) analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method (FCEM). The results show that the establishment of wind power utilization level comprehensive evaluation index system is helpful to find the main factors which effect the level of wind power utilization and improve the wind power field operation, which can provide reference for the planning and design of wind farm, and the results have certain value on theoretical significance and engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emissions trading scheme (ETS) is one of the effective measures to realize energy conservation and emission reduction. In order to set up a nationwide carbon emissions trading mechanism, seven ETS pilots have been launched in China. Firstly, based on empirical investigation and research of seven pilots, this paper analyzed the market efficiency of ETS pilots from four aspects: carbon price, trading volume, market liquidity, and information transparency. The result showed that the market efficiency of ETS pilots is not satisfactory in spite of the fact that system designs of ETS have achieved preliminary result. Then, the reason for low market efficiency of ETS pilots was discussed from some factors such as institutional arrangements, market participants, the supply and demand, etc. Finally, this paper puts forward some policy suggestions to improve the market efficiency of China׳s carbon trading market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant variation in building׳s energy intensity is partly due to the large number of distributed energy users characterized by heterogeneous lifestyles and nonuniform consumption behaviours. Understanding the degree of variation and its cause is critical to designing appropriate policies for energy efficiency improvement. This paper aims to provide a data-based benchmark of buildings energy performance in China and investigates the facts and causes of large variations in energy consumption across buildings based on updated and harmonised dataset. Specifically, the paper is the first in literature to decompose aggregate heating consumption in northern urban China and reallocate the disaggregate data to relevant residential and commercial building energy use, which makes it consistent to conduct international comparison of building performance in terms of primary energy intensity. It is found that buildings energy performance exhibits a sizeable heterogeneity varying with building typology and climate zones in China. Heating and cooling energy consumption for residential buildings located in HSCW climate zone may differ by a factor of 4–10 depending on the technology and energy supply mode, whereby nontechnical interventions may have significant impacts on total energy demand in the built environment. In particular, our analysis results point to the importance of making greater efforts in the commercial sector. Commercial buildings are found significantly more energy intensive than their residential counterpart, mainly due to the fact that BEE policy has been poorly implemented and architectural design has not been optimised in commercial sector. An estimate suggests that improving energy efficiency in the commercial sector may contribute to one-fifth of total energy savings potentials by 2020 in line with the IEA׳s 450 ppm scenario. It is necessary for Chinese building authorities to incorporate the heterogeneity characteristics across different climate zones and building typologies into BEE policy portfolio to effectively curb energy consumption related carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has a coal addiction that has worsened over time. Its share of the world׳s total final coal consumption more than doubled over the past decade. This fast growth of coal consumption presents serious challenges to the country׳s carbon emission. In 2011, burning coal contributed 72% of China׳s CO 2 emission and 19% of global CO 2 . A better understanding of the trajectory and drivers of Chinese coal usage will help catalyse Chinese efforts to kick its heavy addiction to coal. We analyze China׳s coal consumption during 1955–2011 using time-series data energy consumption, population, gross domestic product, and industrial production. Based on the change of its total coal consumption and coal consumption intensity, China׳s coal use for 1955–2011 is divided into six phases. Next, this paper quantifys the driving forces in each phase and drivers of coal consumption intensity, using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) technique. The result shows there is a strong positive correlation between economic growth and coal consumption, the coal intensity and economic output of second industry is the leading contributor to change of coal consumption intensity. Three policy recommendations are offered for China kicking its coal habit. This paper argues that improving coal consumption efficiency is the more optimum policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of China׳s installed wind power capacity in recent years is closely related to the wind energy policies issued by the Chinese government. Using content analysis and quantitative analysis methods, this paper studies the historical evolution of Chinese wind energy policies. Based on 72 wind energy policies issued in the past two decades (1995–2014), this paper analyzes the issuing organization, form, number and stringency of wind energy policies and compares different policy instruments in two periods. The results show that the number and stringency of wind energy policies fluctuated greatly from 1995 to 2014 and that more than twenty organizations had independently or jointly issued the policies. The main organization issuing wind energy policies, however, is the department that controls key economic and administrative resources and not the one that is in charge of wind energy. Of the 72 policies issued, twenty-three took the form of notices, and eleven were measures. As to the policy instrument, environmental policies are most widely applied by the Chinese government, and “regulation control” and “goal-planning” instruments are the ones most frequently adopted. Furthermore, the application of supply- and demand-type policies is inadequate, and few effective instruments have been adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010 China has faced a worrying phenomenon “wind curtailment” in the development and operation of the wind power industry. This phenomenon has resulted in sharp decline of the utilization hours of the wind power equipment, seriously affected the economic benefits of the wind farms and caused serious energy waste. The wind curtailment in China is seemingly caused by the volatility of the wind power technical characteristics. However, judging from a deep level, the planning, networking management and policies play a critical role. With analysis this paper makes such a conclusion: it is not practical to solve the wind curtailment of China solely with the technical solutions and comprehensive measures must be taken. The paper offers strategies from the planning, policy and technical levels to solve the wind curtailment problem according to the actual situation of China and by referring to experiences of developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a global consensus on making full use of renewable energy because of human concern for energy security and environmental deterioration. Power generation with large-scale renewable energy such as solar and wind energy has become the trend of modern power systems, and the resulting impacts on power systems are more and more prominent. Therefore, there is great concern from academic and engineering areas of all countries. In China, as the fastest growing country in the photovoltaic (PV) industry in the world, these problems are particularly outstanding. This paper extensively reviews the present research and application status of large-scale PV (LSPV) power generation in China, discusses the modelling and simulation techniques of LSPV, explores impacts of LSPV integration on dynamic and static characteristics of power systems, and describes key technologies about LSPV power generation delivery and consumption from the perspective of power system planning, simulation, dispatching and control. Additionally, this paper also refines academic and engineering problems, and recommendations are proposed for future research and development of LSPV power generation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green and renewable, wind is one of the major ways to produce power. However, natural wind used for tunnel ventilation is often neglected. Natural wind is usually regarded as resistance. Every year, unchanging ventilation mode and unreasonable control strategy lead to huge energy consumption and economic loss In China. This paper mainly discusses and analyzes the current situation of energy consumption in extra-long tunnel operation ventilation in China. It proposes the natural wind utilization in extra-long segmented tunnels. Therefore, a scientific and theoretical calculation method for extra-long tunnels located in climate separation zone is presented in this paper. Principles of natural wind in each tunnel section are obtained based on long-term monitored meteorological factors. A feasible optimized energy-saving ventilation strategy is put forward, which utilizes natural wind and will minimize the operation energy consumption. It is concluded that, the results about operation energy consumption from this paper can provide useful technical supports in design, operation and management for tunnels all over the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a good power supplement form of super power and large-scale energy base, distributed energy has the characteristics of less investment and flexible power generation. Facing with the double pressure of the sustainable development of energy use and environmental protection, it has become an efficient solution to meet the demand of load growth, reduce environmental pollution and improve the comprehensive utilization of energy and the reliability of power supply. However, the development of distributed energy starts relatively late in China and confronts many difficulties. So this paper analyzes the present development situation and existing problems of the distributed energy in China. Then it elaborates from the aspects of policies and regulations, technical specifications, price policy and grid-interconnection codes. At last, this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions of the guarantee mechanism of distributed energy. This paper argues that, with the attention of the development of distributed energy increasing, a series of policies to promote the construction and interconnection of distributed energy will be introduced, and distributed energy will get scaled development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil crisis and the successful commercial exploitation of shale gas in America have made shale gas become the focus of global energy industry. Shale gas industry will be developed mainly in the future. Sichuan has natural geographical advantages and becomes the main battlefield of shale gas in China. So it is necessary and urgent to analyze the current situation of Sichuan shale gas. This paper introduces the status quo of shale gas in Sichuan, and systematically analyzes the industrial environment for developing Sichuan shale gas from four aspects of policy, economy, society, technology. Then the issues facing Sichuan are discussed. Finally, the paper puts forward some corresponding recommendations to provide certain references to the development of shale gas industry in Sichuan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand-side management (DSM) is an effective means to construct low-carbon electricity system, improve energy efficiency and fastly enhance the sustainable development of economy. DSM in China has entered a period of rapid development. A series of policies and regulations related to DSM have been issued by some national ministries in China. However, some problems exist in the implementation of DSM. In view of that, the current situation of DSM development in China is analyzed in this paper from the three aspects of policies and regulations related to DSM, DSM organizational management and DSM development of representative regions. Following that, the challenges faced in DSM implementation are discussed and feasible measures are proposed based on the challenges. This paper is conducive to give impetus to the development of DSM in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy poverty has got increasing attention during the latest three decades. Measuring energy poverty is the premise of policy making to alleviate energy poverty. There is no unified energy poverty measurement that has been widely accepted. This paper reviews the commonly used energy poverty measurements through classifying them into three categories: energy service availability, energy service quality, and satisfaction of energy demand for human׳s survival and development. This paper also analyzes the suitability of the commonly used energy poverty measurement for China from the prospective of data availability and index applicability. Furthermore, we construct a new energy poverty comprehensive evaluation index in this study, and the index is illustrated to evaluate regional energy poverty in China. The evaluation results indicate that China׳s energy poverty showed an alleviating trend from 2000 to 2011, and during this period, China׳s energy service availability improved slightly; energy consumption cleanliness showed no significant change; energy management completeness decreased with fluctuations; and household energy affordability and energy efficiency improved continually. In addition, China׳s regions show different characteristics of energy poverty. For example, Middle reaches of Yangtze River region showed the worst energy availability and Eastern coastal region showed the worst energy management completeness. Several policy implications for energy poverty alleviation are also proposed in this study, including, for instance, increasing investment on energy infrastructure, and spreading energy management organization in rural area; decreasing relative cost on household commercial energy consumption, and encourage the utilization of modern, clean and efficient household energy consumption equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is vast, abundant and particularly plentiful in energy sources, due to which it has obtained remarkable achievements on economy. However, its energy structure is too simple to support the sustainable development of economy as coal still contributes to the majority of energy consumption in China. As a consequence, Renewable Energy Law was enacted in 2005, and Chinese government announced a series of policies to boom renewable energy industry. Subsidy policy is one of the major forms of these policies. This paper aims to present these subsidy policies and to analyze their effects according to relative data in energy industry 2005–2013, to find out the deficiencies and enlighten possible policy improvements. The original intentions and abstracts of 5 different levels of subsidy related policies are summarized, and the effects in reality are attentively analyzed. It can be concluded that subsidy policies have different short-term effect on different renewable energies, and they all show some negative effect to a certain extent. 6 core problems are summarized in this paper, and remedy strategies are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green roof is an effective energy efficiency measure to reduce the building cooling load in summer and heating load in winter, in addition, it can add ecological benefit and landscape value to the community. Therefore, it has attracted extensive attention worldwide. This paper studies the selection of planting materials, plant configuration patterns and plant growth medium of the green roofs in China, and presents the researches on ecological benefits, thermal performance, and applications of the green roofs in China. This paper also introduces and analyzes the green roofs development policies in China, including the incentive mechanism, laws and regulations, and finally presents the analysis and suggestions on their application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this paper is to argue for the necessity and significance of studying the distributional employment impacts of renewable and new energy development (RNE). Based on the comprehensive review of the methodology and conclusions of existing literatures, this paper builds up an extended input–output model to study RNE’s distributional employment impacts on gender and personnel structure. The case study of China׳s power sector in this paper affirmed earlier doubts that RNE development will indeed aggravate the gender inequality problem and add to the level of mismatch between the structure of labor demand and supply, causing structural unemployment problems. The quantitative analysis in this paper outlined here implies that from 2011 to 2020 the development of RNE will bring about 7 million employment gains, but only 81.8% of which can be realized due to the mismatch problem. The study of China may alert other countries to be less-optimistic about RNE’s employment impacts and reaffirm the need to carry out the distributional employment impacts analysis. This paper concludes with policy suggestions such as providing suitable training and equal promotion opportunities for women, offering courses and vocational trainings to RNE-related majors, in order to reduce the structural unemployment problem and further speed up the development of RNE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become a net importer of natural gas as a result of rapidly increasing consumption in recent years. A production peak would exist since natural gas is an exhaustible resource. As conventional natural gas production peak approaches, the development of unconventional natural gas is attracting increasing attention. China׳s unconventional natural gas reserves are abundant, but exploration is still in its infancy stage. Thus, with the increasing quest for low-carbon development and China׳s natural gas price reform, studying the impacts of unconventional gas development on China׳s natural gas supply and price reform under different scenarios has practical significance. In this paper we predict China׳s natural gas production trends in different scenarios and forecast natural gas demand. This paper concludes that the exploitation of unconventional natural gas will greatly improve China׳s annual natural gas production, and delay the production peak year. This is important for China׳s natural gas supply security as it can decrease dependence on imported gas. Furthermore, as the cleanest fossil fuel, it will enable more time and space for renewable energy development given the many costs and controversies surrounding its development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China faced the greatest challenge in balancing its economic growth, energy and resource security as well as environmental pollution. The energy-intensive industries, which used to be the major force driving China׳s economic growth, had seriously exhausted the countries׳ natural resources and energy, and at the same time polluted the environment because of the severe surplus of low-efficiency production capacities. As a result, the Chinese government had initiated multiple economic and administrative policies to eliminate these low-efficiency production capacities intended to improve the energy efficiency of energy-intensive industries. These policies are summarized in this paper, along with export tax rebating rate, resource tax, administrative audit and approvals, differential electric power pricing and shutting down the low-efficiency production capacities. The paper also evaluates the effects of these policies by analyzing several key indicators about the energy-intensive industries, including fixed asset investment growth rate, energy-intensity of industrial added-value, waste gas emission-intensity of industrial added-value. The VALDEX methodology is selected to examine the improving trends of energy-efficiency for energy-intensive industries. The analyzing results show that firstly the development of low-efficiency capacities tends to be more sensitive to the policies, so the policies that China had enacted really exert very important effects on improving the energy-efficiency of energy-intensive industries. However, the effects of economic policies seem more faster and obvious than the fiscal policies. Besides, the results also show that polices which are designed to reserve energy may not necessarily exert the same effects on reducing emissions. There is still large room for improving the energy efficiency of energy-intensive industries, substantial improvement still needs to be done for current policies’ system. Some suggestions for future work are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over the past century, fossil fuels have provided the majority of China's energy. However, their extensive utilization leads to a shortage and environmental pollution. Recently, submarine and permafrost gas hydrate deposits have been investigated as a possible clean and sustainable energy source by governmental institutions, research organizations, and energy industries in China. The primary objective of this paper is to review the potential studies pertaining to gas hydrate exploration and resource assessment, the safe and efficient exploitation of gas hydrates and the basic properties of gas hydrates. To date, there are over 20 institutions and organizations in China committed to gas hydrate investigation, among which the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey (GMGS) and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CAGS) etc. primarily focus on gas hydrate exploration research, while the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Research Center, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion (GIEC) and China University of Petroleum-Beijing (CUPB) etc. concentrate on gas hydrate mining technologies. In this paper, the occurrence and exploration of gas hydrates in both permafrost regions and the continental slope of China have been determined from numerous research contributions and are presented. Moreover, the latest progress in gas hydrate fundamental studies, including hydrate phase equilibria, hydrate formation mechanisms, hydrate thermal physical properties and the acoustics and resistivity characteristics of gas hydrates are briefly reviewed, and relevant data are gathered and compared. Emphasis is also placed on gas hydrate mining technologies and gas production using depressurization methods, thermal stimulation methods or other methods. Furthermore, the security of natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments during gas production and the environmental impacts of gas hydrate are identified. With additional financial and political support and advanced research facilities, research on gas hydrates in China is progressing rapidly but is still in its early developing stage, thus, future work should be undertaken with greater diligence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With rapid urbanization and industrialization, China has become both the largest energy consumer and CO2 emitting country in the world. As a clean and low-carbon energy source, renewable energy is a good choice to substitute for the exhausted fossil energy. The Chinese central and local governments have made a series of policies and optimistic plans to promote a rapid development of renewable energies. China′s renewable energy development has become a key to the sustainable development of socio-economic system. Unlike most of the current studies which mainly identified the challenges regarding policies and technologies around renewable energy or performed specific analyses for a certain kind of renewable energy, this paper summarizes the spatial disparity and consistency among the major renewable energies, coal resources, energy consumption and its major influencing factors in China, and reviews the positive and negative environmental impacts of major renewable energies. Based on the geographical and environmental perspectives, this paper recommends that the Chinese government: constructs the national energy production bases according to the resource distribution; integrates different energies on the basis of their natural features and spatial consistency; adjusts the overall layout of socio-economic development consistent with renewable energies; and promotes a moderate renewable energy development to maximize the environmental benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Investing in energy efficiency is considered to be an effective way to reduce the carbon emissions. However, the resulting CO 2 savings may be partially or totally offset by the rebound effect (RE). This paper goes beyond the traditional energy RE to investigate the rebound effect as related to CO 2 emissions, aims to explore the direct CO 2 rebound effect (CRE) in urban households at the provincial level. To achieve the objective, this study uses IPCC carbon emissions accounting method, then proposes an elasticity approach and constructs an individual fixed-effect variable coefficient panel data model. The results show that the total CO 2 emissions from household energy consumption were rising in most provinces during 2002–2017. The purchased electricity and heat CO 2 emissions are growing faster than combustion CO 2 emissions. Regarding the magnitude of the CRE, there are three types of direct CRE among urban households in China: the backfire effect, partial rebound effect and super conservation effect. Overall, the average direct CRE in urban households is 59.90%; specifically, the western region has the highest direct CRE (90.92%), compared with the eastern region (52.84%) and central region (24.88%). The government should take into account the CRE of households, in order to avoid overestimating the carbon reduction. Attention should also be paid to the differences between provinces when formulating energy policies. The analysis above helps local governments to formulate effective energy policies to promote households' carbon emission reduction. • This paper proposes an elasticity method for estimating CO 2 rebound effect. • The carbon emissions from household energy consumption are calculated. • There are three types of direct CO 2 rebound effect among urban households in China. • The average direct CO 2 rebound effect in urban households is 59.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Solar energy represents the largest source of renewable energy and is thus expected to play a crucial role in meeting our future energy demand. In China, solar energy utilization has made remarkable progress in recent years. In this paper, we reviewed the recent developments in the field of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation from the perspective of transition theory, which was originally developed by technological innovation studies. The transition studies propounded three heuristic levels in a system, namely, socio-technical landscape, regime, and niche, and a transition of a system can only be fulfilled through the interactions among these three levels. With respect to the development of solar PV power generation in China, in this paper we initially examined specific situations within these three levels in the context of energy transition. In the subsequent sections, we paid attention to the response of government in promoting the solar PV development amid energy transition. Specifically, relevant policies and some niche level special programs were investigated. Then, we examined the phased achievements in the transition and offered solutions to some newly emerged problems. The final section concludes with some comments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As an unconventional natural gas with the advantages of great resource potential and low carbon emissions, shale gas has currently aroused a new round of development and utilization worldwide. China’s shale gas resource is enormous and has huge potential for exploitation. However, due to the late start of exploration and development, it has not yet realized industrialization. By using the SWOT analysis method, this paper studies the internal and external development environment of Chinese shale gas, then explores shale gas development status of China from four dimensions including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Finally, according to the combinations of SWOT matrix analysis, the paper formulates four kinds of different development strategies to provide certain references to the development of China’s shale gas industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzed the interactions among China’s economic growth and its energy consumption, air emissions and air environmental protection investment during 2000–2007. Conventional energy and emergy are applied to quantify energy consumption and emissions’ impact, respectively. The five indicators based on money, energy and emergy, including ratio of nonrenewable energy to renewable energy (RNR), energy use per unit GDP (EUPG), environmental cost per unit GDP (ECPG), impact of emissions per unit energy consumption (IEPEC), and environmental benefit per unit environmental protection investment (EBPEI), are presented to depict the relationships among economic growth and energy consumption and impact of air emissions and air environmental protection investment. The results show that energy consumption rapidly rises with China’s fast economic growth; however, energy efficiency and environmental loading intensity from energy consumption are reduced simultaneously but their improvements fall far behind economic growth rate. Impact of air emissions, mainly composed of impact of emissions on human health (especially dust), is slightly decreased. The performance of air environmental protection investment is obviously declined in the study period. Generally speaking, the conflict among economy, energy and air environment protection is slightly mitigated but still acute due to great dependence of China’s economy on fossil energy and inefficient environmental protection measures. Finally, this paper discusses the corresponding issues, and then puts forward some related suggestions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: During 2010 and 2011, China had been the largest producer of wind turbines in the world for two consecutive years. How China can transform from being the largest producer to being the strongest producer of wind turbines is currently a great concern in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this issue from the perspective of the international competitiveness of China''s wind turbine manufacturing industry. Firstly, the paper establishes a model for evaluating the international competitiveness of wind turbine manufacturing industry, which consists of five first-level indexes and 10 second-level indexes. Then, the paper uses these indexes to evaluate the international competitiveness of six leading wind turbine companies in the world—Vestas (Denmark), Gamesa (Germany), GE Wind (the USA), Nordex (Spain), Suzlon (India) and Sinovel (China). The result shows that the international competitiveness of the Chinese wind turbine company, Sinovel, ranked the fifth, lagging behind Vestas, Gamesa, GE Wind and Suzlon. Finally, the paper makes in-depth analysis on the major factors that hamper the international competitiveness of China''s wind turbine manufacturing industry and provides implications for future development of the industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Renewable energy technologies offer an economically viable and environmentally suitable scenario towards addressing energy requirements for rural livelihoods. China''s Renewable Energy Rural Electrification Program, initiated in 2001, is an effort to employ renewable energy technologies on a large-scale for rural electrification. The Program has been designed with several stages. This paper firstly offers an analysis of the problems encountered during the progress of this rural electrification program, using data obtained from field survey of representative areas in western China where the first stage of the program was implemented. The paper then explores feasible solutions in order to address existing rural energy issues and provide long-term reliable energy service for remote communities. In support of future course of development of renewable energy application for rural energy demands, policy recommendations are provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Charging heating fees based on floor space in China leaves building developers no economic returns on the investment to weatherize the buildings and install regulation devices with terminal equipment. Therefore, they lack incentives to improve the thermal insulation properties of the buildings. Tenants also lack incentives to efficiently use heat, opening windows to cool down rooms when they are overheated, without concern for the amount of heat wasted. In response, over the past decade, the Chinese government has invested large amounts of resources in an effort to promote energy conservation with heating systems by trying to change the fee method based on floor space to amount of heat used, but with little effect. The major issues related to reform with the heat-metering system are elaborated in this paper by comparing the pros and cons of several metering methods. Firstly, room temperatures are unable to be effectively adjusted using the current methods, meaning that the original intention to save energy cannot be achieved. Secondly, current heat-metering methods are not acceptable to users, which creates its own problems. Heat metering based on households in apartment buildings, the primary living space for Chinese people, causes two problems: the energy consumed by households located at the top or at the corner of buildings is two to three times higher than households located elsewhere within the building; heating fees may increase by 20–30% if surrounding households are not heated. Current metering methods are unable to effectively resolve these two problems, therefore, they are not accepted. To overcome these difficulties, a proper metering and charging method must be developed which is both acceptable to users and able to guarantee good room temperature control at the same time. To achieve this goal, this paper presents a new method: the total heating fee of a building is allocated according to the accumulated on-time as well as the floor space of each household. Not only can this new method control the user behavior of opening windows or setting the starting point too high, but also resolve problems caused by location and heat transfer between households. It is also effective in promoting energy saving by users and appears to be acceptable to users. Survey results show that it is acceptable to a large number of users. It seems that this is the most practical way to reform the current methods for heat metering based on household use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the public attitude toward and willingness to accept six energy-saving measures in the residential sector in Beijing, China. The qualitative results derived from questionnaires show that financial incentives and the desire to reduce energy consumption are the most significant factors driving the public to adopt the measures and that the unavailability of electric vehicle (EV) chargers is a crucial barrier to the promotion of EVs. The quantitative results indicate that socioeconomic variables have a greater impact on technical energy-saving measures than behavioral ones. Renters or individuals with a high risk preference have a lower willingness to accept energy-efficient air conditioners. The price of gasoline, convenience of EV chargers, EV policy package, and environmental concern can significantly influence willingness to purchase an EV. With regard to behavioral energy-saving measures, control of the heating system and the influence of nearby people (spillover effect) significantly increase the preference for closing windows when the heating is on. The public transportation convenience, high gasoline prices and the congestion charge have significant effects on residents’ willingness to use public transportation. Infrastructure upgrades to heating and transportation would remove adoption barriers and facilitate energy conservation. Price policies and preferential policies related to EVs could have a significant impact on household choice of transportation mode. Finally, increasing the public energy-saving awareness and environmental concern is recommended to facilitate the promotion of energy-saving options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An improvement in industrial carbon emission efficiency is crucial for achieving both reductions in carbon emissions and sustainable economic growth. In this paper, we use an improved non-radial directional distance function (NDDF) to construct a new meta-frontier total-factor carbon emission efficiency index ( TCEI ) with which we estimate the meta-frontier TCEI of China's 30 provincial industrial sectors in 2005–2015 and analyze their dynamic evolution. The results show that compared to traditional NDDF, the improved NDDF has more advantages in measuring both carbon emission efficiency and the technology gap ratio. For the study period, China's industrial meta-frontier TCEI is low, indicating that the industrial TCEI of many provinces still has much room for improvement. The meta-frontier TCEI has significant inter-group heterogeneity, with Eastern China having the largest carbon emission efficiency, followed by Central China, and Western China having the lowest. China's industrial meta-frontier TCEI increased significantly during the study period with technical progress playing a major role in promoting it. Over time, however, the meta-frontier TCEI growth rate decreased significantly as the deterioration in technological efficiency and the expansion of the technology gap have jointly inhibited the growth of carbon emissions efficiency. Carbon emission performance in various regions over different periods exhibit differing characteristics, that is, the carbon emission performance has significant spatial heterogeneity and period heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a global meta-frontier approach, this paper analyzes energy efficiency and the savings potential in China's transportation sector from 2006 to 2014 from the perspectives of technological progress, technology gaps, and management efficiency. The results show that energy efficiency in China's transportation sector first decreased from 2006 to 2010, mainly due to a decline in management efficiency and an expansion of the regional technology gap. The energy efficiency then increased from 2011 to 2014 when management efficiency and the regional technology gap stabilized. The energy efficiency in China's transportation sector shows spatial differences, suggesting that the focus of future work on China's provincial transportation sectors should be quite varied. Most provinces in eastern China should commit to upgrading their management efficiency, while most provinces in central and western China should focus on both upgrading their management efficiency and narrowing the regional technology gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid development of agriculture mechanization and the agro–industry in China (considered as a large agricultural country) has led to a substantial increase in energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. Majority of existing studies usually explore the driving forces of the sector's CO 2 emissions using the averaging method. However, data distribution of economic variables is often non–normal, with the tail having hidden important information. According to the average annual CO 2 emissions, this paper divides China's 30 provinces into six quantile grades, and uses the quantile regression method to investigate the driving forces of CO 2 emissions under high, medium, and low emission levels. The results show that the effects of economic growth on CO 2 emissions in the upper 90th and 75th–90th quantile provinces are higher than in the 50th–75th, 25th–50th, 10th–25th and lower 10th quantile provinces due to the differences in fixed–asset investment and agricultural processing. The impact of energy efficiency in the upper 90th, 75th–90th, and 50th–75th quantile provinces are stronger than those in the 25th–50th, 10th–25th, and lower 10th quantile provinces because of the huge difference in R&D funding and R&D personnel investments. The effect of urbanization in the higher 90th quantile provinces is higher than in the other quantile provinces, owing to the differences in the level of agricultural mechanization and human capital accumulation. Similarly, financial capacity has the largest impact on CO 2 emissions in the upper 90th quantile provinces in all quantile provinces. However, the impact of industrialization in the upper 90th quantile provinces is lower than in other quantile provinces. Thus, the heterogeneous effects of the driving forces should be taken into consideration when discussing CO 2 emissions reduction in China's agriculture sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China consumes more energy and emits more carbon dioxide than any other country. The building sector accounts for nearly 1/3 of the total national energy consumption in China; thus, it is critical to find a solution for improving buildings’ energy efficiency. Under the market-oriented mechanism, constrained by the energy performance contracting (EPC) mode, energy service companies (ESCOs) play an important role in improving energy efficiency for high-energy-consumption industries, including the building sector. The aim of this study is to determine the strategy for boosting the building ESCO industry. By conducting a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis, this paper presented the status of the building ESCO industry in China and proposed alternative strategies. By utilizing a conventional multi-criteria decision-making method, namely, the Analytic Network Process (ANP), this study provides a quantitative basis to analytically determine the ranking of the factors in SWOT analysis and select the best strategy to promote the development of the building ESCO industry. The results showed that the ANP-SWOT is a viable and highly capable methodology that provides invaluable insights for strategic management decisions in the building ESCO industry, and a set of strategies for promoting ESCO development in the building sector were proposed based on this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water shortage can constrain energy development and use, and climate change partially caused by energy consumption can profoundly affect the quantity and distribution of water resources worldwide. The chronic water shortage in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region of China is likely to worsen under the impact of global climate change. The coal-dominated electricity sector will continuously have a high water demand. This reality will intensify the dilemma between water supply and power generation. This paper presents an adaptability analysis of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in 2013–2030 based on the current situation. Water evaluation and planning and long-range energy alternative planning systems are used to simulate changes in water and energy systems, respectively, and the impacts on the electricity sector under two climate scenarios and three development scenarios. On this basis, this study explores the potential of power structure adjustment and technological advancement in easing baseline water stress and promoting sustainable development in the region. Findings show that the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region is under high water stress, which will be aggravated under global climate change. In representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, the baseline water stress of the region in 2017–2030 averages 259% and 494%, and the annual unmet water demand reaches 15.3 and 21.1 billion m 3 , respectively. In the renewable energy and advanced technology scenarios, the regional water savings are expected to reach 200–250 million m 3 by 2030. The unmet water demand of power generation can be alleviated to some extent, but the water shortage trend cannot be reversed. Therefore, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region should develop an overall plan and layout of energy and water resources and adopt a combination of policy instruments to support the expansion of renewable energy or promote advanced power generation technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As a renewable energy, biogas is not only an important part of the development of rural new energy, but also an important aspect of sustainable development in China. The development process and present status of household biogas, specifically the opportunities and constraints of household biogas in rural China, are discussed in this paper. Only about 19% of the biogas potential has been utilized in rural China. There are several opportunities for household biogas development in rural China, including the problem of rural household energy consumption, the availability of biogas fermentation materials, national financial subsidies, legal and international clean development mechanisms. Also, more research needs to be done in straw fermentation and cold fermentation technology. Training should be conducted to raise the level of biogas customers in comprehensive biogas utilization. Measures should be taken to improve the follow-up services and management of biogas plants. The information presented in this paper will be helpful not only to the sustainable development of household biogas in rural China, but also to the development of biogas in similar countries around the world. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper chooses the 36 industry sub-sectors as samplings, based on the data sets of added value and end-use energy consumption from 1993 to 2003 of China. By implying the improved index decomposition methods, ADMI and LMDI, the models are formulated. The results obtained show that structure effect which was less than intensity effect decreased year by year before 1998 and turned into steady from 1999. The intensity effect descended during the whole sampling periods. The biggest contributions on average structure effect and intensity effect were from sub-sectors of electric equipment and machines and raw chemical materials and chemical products, and the smallest contributions were from industries of production and supply of gas and petroleum processing and coking. The paper provides the foundation for policy making on improvement of industry energy efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to understand the basic character and development tendency of China’s rural household energy consumption, we present the total rural household energy consumption of 1998 in China, which was 340.97 million tce (tons of standard coal equivalent, 1 tce=7×106 kcal), according to statistics gathered from 30 provinces and 40.14% of which was commercial energy. This paper shows the correlation coefficients of the data, such as per-capita energy consumption of standard coal equivalent (PCEC), effective heat consumption for livelihood per capita per day (EHC), the proportion of commercial energy in EHC (PCE), annual electricity consumption for livelihood per capita (AEC) and so on. The paper suggests using EHC, PCE and AEC as the character indices to further reveal the correlation of per-capita income (PCI) and average annual temperature (AAT). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As a non-Arctic country and a major energy consumer, China is increasingly interested in participating in Arctic energy development. This study aims to investigate potential strategies to promote China's participation in Arctic energy development. Accordingly, this study analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of China's participation in Arctic energy development based on a discussion of the current status of Arctic energy development and the Arctic policies of major countries. In addition, this work develops strategies in accordance with the above analysis. The results show that China has strengths in terms of capital, energy demand, policy support, and international cooperation when participating in Arctic energy development, while its weaknesses include the lack of core technology and equipment, high carbon intensity of energy development, and geographical disadvantage. China faces opportunities stemming from conflicts among Arctic states, the advancement of global carbon neutrality, and the development of Arctic waterway while facing threats such as increased competition, international public opinion pressure, high development costs, environmental risks, and pandemic instability. Under an integrated framework, this work offers four strategies: Strength-Opportunity (SO), Strength-Threat (ST), Weakness-Opportunity (WO), and Weakness-Threat (WT). Finally, this study proposes specific measures in four areas, including strengthening policy support, promoting technical research and development, enhancing international cooperation, and improving enterprise competitiveness. [Display omitted] • This study examines China's participation in Arctic energy development. • This paper reviews the status of fossil and non-fossil energy in the Arctic. • This study compares the Arctic energy development strategies of major countries. • This study proposes four strategies, namely SO, ST, WO, and WT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficient buildings can facilitate the achievement of sustainable development goals. However, higher investment costs are not conducive to the development of energy efficient buildings. It is not clear whether the energy efficiency of buildings (EEBs) bring price premiums that could offset the incremental costs of adopting green practice. In this paper, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is constructed that takes into account the differences in regional and urban size to measure the EEBs in 54 cities of China during 2007–2018. We evaluate the influence of EEBs on price premiums by using fixed effects regression. We then adopt a moderated mediation model to explore the impact of industrial structure and the regional economic development level on this premium effect. The empirical results show that the cities' EEBs is gradually improving, due to the fact that the level of technical progress in residential construction is rising. A 1% increase in house energy efficiency causes price premiums of 0.583%. Moreover, this premium effect is more obvious in cities with a high proportion of tertiary industries and economically developed areas. Considering energy consumption in household heating, the housing prices expectations were pulled down in heating cities, while the situation was reversed in non-heating cities. This study provides companies and governments with scientific evidence to promote EEBs. • Measuring the energy efficiency of buildings (EEBs) on housing prices is needed. • A 1% growth of house energy efficiency causes price premiums of 0.583%. • This premium effect is more obvious in cities with a high proportion of tertiary industries. • This premium effect is more obvious in cities with economically developed areas. • The housing prices expectations were pulled down in heating cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, solar heat for industrial processes (SHIP) have been rapidly developed and applied, and also getting more and more attention all over the world. China is the largest energy consumer with industry accounting for almost 70% of its total energy consumption. Low- and medium-temperature heat takes up 45% of process heat, covering 50–70% of industrial energy consumption, which provides a favorable condition for solar application in industrial processes. China has built developed some demonstration projects to make industrial processes well integrated with solar heating systems. This paper briefly summarizes the status of China's energy consumption, integration of SHIP, as well as available matching solar technologies. Ten typical industrial sectors are selected to specifically describe their potential of SHIP. Moreover, 26 SHIP cases covering the selected 10 sectors are presented by field researches, with capacity of energy saving and emission reduction previously investigated according to their own proportion of SHIP. The potential of SHIP in the 10 sectors are further predicted by optimistically and conservatively making their proportion in SHIP 5.5% and 2% respectively during the period of 2016–2020. The results show that at least 39.40 million tons of coal equivalent and 98.22 million tons of CO 2 emission is expected to be reduced in 2020 in China's all industrial sectors although solar can meet different proportions of heat demand in different industrial sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to examine the link between CO 2 emissions, hydroelectricity consumption, urbanisation and real GDP in China and India during the period of 1965–2013. The long-run cointegration is investigated by the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, which is augmented with structural breaks. We employ the ARDL cointegration test to establish long run relationship in the variables. Furthermore, we use the ARDL to show that real GDP and urbanisation have long-run positive impact on emission, while hydroelectricity consumption exerts long-run negative impact on emission in both countries. The results support the existence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China and India. Besides, the paper assesses the causal link between the variables by using Granger causality procedures and the results show that there is long-run bidirectional relationship between the variables in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compressor is the crucial device for the present fuel cell system, reflected by the compressor's selection, performance, cost, and control. The review papers on compressor usually focus on its category and the pros and cons in commercial use. This paper reexamines the necessity of the air compression of fuel cell system and systematically reviews the compressor progress and application from criteria for air compression to compressor control. The leading six parts of this paper answer, respectively, that which kind of stack is suitable for compression, which compressors are commonly used in China market, what features should the compressor have for the fuel cell application, which phase is the current compressor in and will be in, how to effectively control the compressor. Of them, the analyzing model for the criteria to conduct compression is firstly proposed because it is a generalized method and independent of experimental data. Using the thermal dynamics to analyze the phase and possible ceiling of the compressor is another novelty (DOE or any other organizations will not give this ceiling and analysis). Finally, the compressor control at the angle of system efficiency improvement is firstly reviewed, as well. This paper is beneficial for the researchers to know the overall state of the compressor and is of guidance for them to design a more efficient and commercial fuel cell system. • Generalized data-free analysis model for criteria to compress air is firstly given. • Analyzing the phase and development ceiling of the compressor. • Comparison of technique similarity between fuel cell and inner combustion engine. • Compressor control at the angle of system efficiency promotion is firstly reviewed. • Sliding mode control and extremum seeking control are promising for compressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]